A new TV commercial shows a man lying on a hospital bed after being stabbed in the back by a hotel: it didn't deliver on the promises it had made. The surgeon advises him to try an online hotel-booking portal. In another ad, IPL cricketers are seen promoting hotel bookings through a travel portal.

After years of advertising the lowest possible fares, online travel sites like Makemytrip, Hotels.com, Goibibo and Yatra are talking hotels. It is a business which has remained largely untapped all these years, as Indian travelers preferred to book hotels over the phone or when they arrived at their destination, despite the convenience of the Internet.

Infosys seems to be witnessing an exodus of its feet-on-street sales force. Over 50 people have exited the company in the US in the last few quarters with many joining its cross-town rival Wipro. Most of the exits are thought to be in the Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

Sources say Infosys' sales team is under a lot of pressure from all corners. Performance pressures have increased significantly . There is also the morale issue among sales professionals , due to delay in salary increments and negative publicity about the company's unhappy performance for the last many quarters.

Challenging the assertion of several American lawmakers that H-1B visas grabbed by Indian IT professionals eat into their employment market, a new study by an eminent US thinktank has said that contrary to such perception, Indian techies create jobs in the country.

The report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said contrary to the popular perception, India-based companies do not use up most of the yearly H-1B allotment.

Instagram has launched a new feature that allows users to add names to their photographs, just like Facebook.

Instagram announced the change on its blog on Thursday, writing, "photos are memories of the people, places and moments that mean the most to us." The company posted that they have always sought to give users simple and expressive ways to bring their stories behind their images to life.

Americans are saying goodbye to text messaging, a wireless industry group says, as internet-based applications such as Apple's iMessage are starting to taking over from what was once a cash cow for phone companies.

Text messages vaulted into the mainstream in 2007, despite often costing 10 cents each. Costs came down quickly as phone companies started selling monthly "bundles" of texts. Now, many phone companies give text messaging away for free as part of a plan that mainly meters the amount of data used. That has helped stave off mass migration to internet chat applications and Facebook messaging in the US, making the decline somewhat surprising, said Pamela Clark-Dickson, an analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media in Britain.

Aiming to increase its presence in the Indian tablet market, South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung today launched a tablet with 8-inch TFT screen, Galaxy Note 510, in India.

The 3G-enabled tablet is powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS and runs on 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, Samsung Electronics said in a release. Galaxy Note 510, priced at Rs 30,900, has 16GB internal memory that can be expanded up to 64 GB through a microSD card, it added.

Microsoft's phone chief hates to call the new Nokia Lumia 521 cheap, but the lower-priced smartphone launching in the United States is the company's boldest move yet to win mass market share from leaders Apple and Samsung.

The world's largest software company has so far focused on putting its Windows Phone software into expensive, high-end devices - chiefly from Nokia and HTC.

After completing supply of 1 lakh units of Aakash tablets to IIT Bombay for Rs 2,263 apiece, Datawind said it is ready to provide the next version of the device at a tentative price of Rs 2,500 apiece.

"As per my information, the committee on Aakash tablets is looking to higher version of the device at Rs 2,500 a piece and we are ready to match the price on order for every 10 lakh units," Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli told reporters here.

When queried about alleged delays in supply of Aakash tablets under the previous tender, he said Datawind has supplied all tablets more than a month in advance.

In picking Brian Krzanich as its next CEO, Intel stuck to a familiar playbook amid a game-changing shift in computing that has raised worries about the future of the world's largest chipmaker.

Ever since Intel co-founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore ceded their roles as the first two CEOs, the company has always promoted the second-in-command to the helm. That started in 1987 with Andy Grove, who served as the top lieutenant under the co-founders. After learning the ropes under Grove, Craig Barrett took over as CEO in 1998 and then handed the reins to his understudy, Paul Otellini, in 2005.

Friday, May 3, 2013

DataWind will supply 10,000 Aakash low-cost computing access devices to IIT-Bombay, as part of National Mission for Education through Information Communication Technology initiative of the union government. Each device is priced at $41.61.

The Aakash 2 devices, claimed to be the world's most cost effective computing access devices, utilize multi-touch projective capacitive touch screens. The devices are powered by a Cortex A8 - 1Ghz processor, of the same calibre as the original iPad, and contain 512MB of RAM (twice that of the original iPad).

iYogi a global provider of software and technical support services has launched a cloud based solution that drives service innovation through support automation and customer experience management. With iYogi’s ‘Digital Services Cloud’ (DSC), telecom companies, OEM’s, technology retailers and BPO companies can address new opportunities and generate revenue, while enhancing customer experience and reducing costs.

When a teenage boy snatched the iPhone out of Rose Cha's hand at a bus stop in the Bronx in March, she reported the theft to her carrier and to the police - just as she had done two other times when she was the victim of cellphone theft. Again, the police said they could not help her.

Cha's phone was entered in a new nationwide database for stolen cellphones, which tracks a phone's unique identifying number to prevent it from being activated, theoretically discouraging thefts. But police officials say the database has not helped stanch the ever-rising numbers of phone thefts, in part because many stolen phones end up overseas, out of the database's reach, and in part because the identifiers are easily modified.

Intel said that its board had elected its chief operating officer Brian Krzanich as the chipmaker's next chief executive, replacing Paul Otellini.

Intel shares fell slightly in early trade after the news.

Krzanich, who has worked at Intel since 1982, will take on the top job at the company's annual shareholder meeting on May 16. Krzanich, 52, has been COO since January 2012. The board also elected Renee James, 48, to be president of Intel and is expected to expand to 10 members to add Krzanich.

Norwegian telecom major Telenor's Indian arm Uninor today announced the appointment of Yogesh Malik as the firm's chief executive officer (CEO).

The company added that managing director Sigve Brekke will step down, but will continue to be responsible for all of Telenor affairs in India as the head of Telenor Group's Asian operations.

"In parallel to being manager director of Uninor, Sigve Brekke has also held the position as Telenor Group Head of Asian operations. When he now steps down as MD of Uninor, he will fully focus on this role," the company said in a release.

When Google launched its social networking service, Google Plus, during the summer of 2011, tens of millions of people clamoured to sign up for an account.

But within months, critics had panned the new service, pointing to user pages bereft of meaningful content and exchanges. They said the new social site just wasn't, well, social. It seemed as though Facebook had cornered the market -- Google was too late to the party.

Jonathan Ive, six months into an expanded role as Apple's top product visionary, has embarked on a sweeping software overhaul that leaves the company at risk of falling behind on a new version of the operating system that runs iPhones and iPads, people with knowledge of the matter said. Already in charge of product design, Ive assumed oversight of the look and feel of software running all Apple electronics in a shakeup by chief executive officer Tim Cook last year that included the departure of software chief Scott Forstall. Ive, 46, has begun revamping iPhone and iPad applications, shunning realistic images, such as wood bookshelves for the Newsstand feature, and he's exploring more dramatic changes to the e-mail and calendar tools, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

Google Glass poses security threats as the wearable computer developed by the search giant does not have any PIN or authentication system, hackers have revealed.

Hackers may be able to exploit Google Glass' 'root capability', which is enabled by attaching it to a desktop computer and running some commands, allowing them to access the user's information, the Guardian reports.

The report said that hackers will also be able to monitor Google Glass' users' activities on their smartphones as a Santa Barbara-based programmer, specializing in cracking smartphone security for both iPhone and Android devices, Jay Freeman has discovered.

Samsung's mid-range quad-core smartphone Galaxy Win Duos is now available in India. Though the device is not listed on Samsung India's website, online retailer Snapdeal is offering the device at Rs 17,990. According to Snapdeal, the official price of Galaxy Win Duos is Rs 19,850.

The all-new Galaxy Win features a 4.7-inch TFT touchscreen with 800x480p resolution and 200ppi pixel density. The device is powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor, coupled with 1GB RAM. For storage, the manufacturer offers 8GB onboard memory in the device, along with 32GB microSD card support.

Taking their cue from nature, engineers have built a camera using stretchable electronics that scans the world like a fly's compound eye -- with a wide field of view and no distortion, they said.

The digital device, which has a multitude of tiny, pliable lenses like those found in ant, beetle and lobster eyes, also allows for a near-infinite depth of field and high motion sensitivity, the team wrote in the journal Nature.

"We've figured out ways to make cameras that incorporate all of the essential design features of eyes found in the insect world," study co-author John Rogers of the University of Illinois' engineering department told AFP.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

South Korean giant Samsung's latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S4 scores high on new features front. The device boasts of several new features vis-a-vis its rival smartphones.

However, according to SquareTrade, an American firm that tests gadgets specifically on breakability, Samsung Galaxy S4 doesn't score very high on durability front. It is, in fact, highly prone to breaking as compared to rivals, if SquareTrade is to be believed. San Francisco and London-based SquareTrade offers highly-rated protection plans to millions of American gadgets and consumer electronics buyers against accidental damage and malfunctioning etc. It is credited with transforming of the warranty industry.

Qualcomm is stepping up its Snapdragon chip branding campaign, including a commercial for movie theaters and television, in a bid to build customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive smartphone industry.

Chief Marketing Officer Anand Chandrasekher showed analysts a commercial playing in US theaters and said it would also be rolled out in other countries, including China. Qualcomm plans to air it on national TV within the next couple of months.

Samsung Galaxy S4, the hot new launch by the South Korean manufacturer, can now earn you a 'free' trip to Thailand. Online retailer Tradus is offering an assured package of 5 days and 4 nights for one person on purchase of the smartphone from two retailers - DBM India and DBM Bangalore - from its website.

As part of the offer, after completing the purchase of Samsung Galaxy S4 from Tradus, buyers will have to register themselves at another website to redeem it. Once the product is delivered, buyers will receive the trip vouchers through email. Under this offer, buyers are entitled to an Economy Class flight ticket, two days stay each at Bangkok and Pattaya, sightseeing and airport transfers on every purchase. While the buyer gets the free ticket, a companion can join the trip at a discounted rate, the website says.

Smartphone-maker BlackBerry has launched a plan offering all its services for Rs 129 per GB in 15 mid- and low-revenue generating circles, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, targetting a deeper penetration in these regions.

The monthly plan would be available on the network of Aircel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone, BlackBerry India's Director for Commercial Relationship, Hitesh Shah told PTI.

Google has given Glass, its highly-anticipated gadget, to developers to work on creating more applications for the platform, a top company official said today. The California-headquartered firm, however, did not give any particular date for the Indian or global launch of Google Glass -- a wearable computer with a head-mounted display.

"We are giving away a few for the developers... the idea is for them to develop using the Google Glass platform so we can find out what interesting applications can be added in addition to what we already have," Google SVP and chief business officer Nikesh Arora told reporters here when asked about the time of launch of the gadget.

Scientists have taken the idea of a film short down to new levels. Molecular levels.

IBM says it has made the tiniest stop-motion movie ever - a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing, throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

Each frame measures 45 by 25 nanometers - there are 25 million nanometers in an inch - but hugely magnified, the movie is reminiscent of early video games, particularly when the boy bounces the ball off the side of the frame accompanied by simple music and sound effects.

The Google Glass, which overlays digital information in the real world, could be water-proof, as a well known technology and social media personality has discovered.

Even though Google Chairman Eric Schmidt had said that there might be some places where the glasses might not be best to wear, technology expert Robert Scoble found that his personal shower is not one of those places, reports ABC News.

The world's first web page will be dragged out of cyberspace and restored for today's internet browsers as part of a project to celebrate 20 years of the web, organisers said today.

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said it had begun recreating the website that launched that world wide web, as well as the hardware that made the groundbreaking technology possible.

The world's first website was about the technology itself, according to CERN, allowing early browsers to learn about the new system and create their own web pages.

Opportunities thrown up by technology can be harnessed only if the children in the country are made computer literate, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said.

Speaking at the discussion of roadmap for implementation of the advanced IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) in India, organised by industry body Ficci, he said a major part of problems that the country faced today can be resolved through technology.

India will require five lakh cybersecurity professionals by 2015 to support its fast growing internet economy as per an estimate by the union ministry of information technology.

These jobs will come up across industries. The financial sector alone is expected to hire over 2 lakh people while telcos, utility sectors, power, oil & gas, airlines, government (law & order and egovernance ) will hire the rest.

Rumour mills have for long speculating on the launch of the alleged iPhone 5S. Now, a news report also claims to have got the launch date of the much-awaited smartphone, the follow up to Apple's current flagship iPhone 5.

French website Nowhereelse.fr, which has a decent record of leaks surrounding Apple products, has released the image of an internal document of Japanese telecom operator KDDI. This document states that iPhone 5S will be announced on June 20 and hit the stores in July. The document also calls the device iPhone 5S, giving credence to speculation saying that the phone will not be named iPhone 6.

The Indian Premier League has gripped mobile audiences, with viewers consuming more than 9 lakh hours of video feed averaging at over 42,000 hours daily.

According to statistics by mobile TV service nexGTv, the most sought video on demand (VoD) content are the highlights of matches and interesting moments of the T20 cricketing extravaganza, since it began on April 3.

The telecom department (DoT) will inform the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that it is vital to link domestic manufacturing with national security, as it attempts to address concerns that its new policy that mandates a minimum 30% domestic sourcing of all telecom and electronic products, would lead to distortions in the market.

The Prime Minister's Office had recently raised concerns on the draft Preferential Market Access (PMA) norms and suggested that the 'security' and 'manufacturing locations' be delinked from the policy, while warning the new rules could create market distortions. The PMO had also said that security objectives could be met through audits, tests and these issues needed to be handled separately, even as it suggested a moratorium on the implementation of this policy until satisfactory assessment of domestic manufacturing capabilities had been made.

Square‘s Jack Dorsey is keen on wearables but cautious on Glass, arguing smart glasses aren’t likely to offer legitimate value to wearers for another decade or so. “Glasses are very compelling and I think it’s an amazing technology” Dorsey told the NYTimes, “but I just can’t imagine my mom wearing them right now. What is the value of Glass?”

While augmented reality wearables like Google’s headset are technically impressive, Dorsey expects more mundane examples of body-worn gadgetry to do better in the mass market. Part of that, the mobile payments service founder suggests, is due to the fact that tech you wear on your wrist can be associated more readily with geek-jewelry.

Microsoft has launched a preview of Skype in Outlook.com for users located in the United Kingdom, with those located in the United States and Germany being slated to get the preview “in the coming weeks.” Following the full preview roll out will be the switch from preview mode, with video and audio calling being offered across the entire expanse of Outlook.com via Skype sometimes in the coming months. Hard dates weren’t provided for any of the planned roll outs.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has launched an innovative online mapping tool developed in cooperation with professional network LinkedIn to make it easier to message new contacts, arrange meetings and be more productive while travelling.

The airline said its 'Etihad Mapped-Out' tool offers professionals on LinkedIn the ability to search their connections by geographical location and see them displayed on a map making it easier for business travelers to connect with their global network of contacts as they travel.

Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins believes that the Blackberry Q10 will be the company’s saving grace, moreso than the Blackberry Z10. First day Blackberry Q10 sales in the UK has surpassed the company’s expectations with Carphone Warehouse’s outlet, Selfridges, saying that the device sold thousands of units per hour. Within 6 hours, the retailer sold out its entire stock of Blackberry Q10 devices in every one of its stores.

Researchers in Sweden have developed a new technique where you can charge your devices anywhere without electricity, provided there is a water source nearby. Just add a spoonful and get instant power, anytime anywhere.

Handy for anyone who spends time away from electricity, the small, lightweight PowerTrekk could power critical devices for warfighters and aid workers deployed to remote areas of the world, Fox News reported.

Siri may be feeling a little job insecurity. The sometimes droll assistant that answers questions and helps people manage their lives on Apple's iPhone and iPad is facing competition from an up-and-coming rival made by Google.

The duel began with the release of a free iPhone and iPad app that features Google Now, a technology that performs many of the same functions as Siri.

Citing the significant contributions of immigrants from India, a leading US thinktank has suggested that America must roll out the welcome mat to high-skilled workers to remain competitive and innovative.

While much of the congressional immigration reform debate is focused on a 'path to citizenship' for 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians, a proposal by Senate's " Gang of Eight" focusing on skilled workers "should attract broad support," it said, describing it as 'path to prosperity'.

Indian smartphone maker Micromax has launched its first smartphone with 3D screen, named Canvas 3D. This device has been priced Rs 9,999 and does not require 3D glasses to view the content. According to the company, the technology required to convert standard images into 3D format has been embedded into this smartphone.

The all-new Micromax Canvas 3D A115 boasts of a 5-inch display and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). This dual-sim smartphone runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor and supports 32GB memory card for storage expansion. The company has not revealed the RAM and internal storage offered with this device.

NEC India has announced the appointment of Partho Dasgupta, as the first managing director from India. He will undertake the leadership of NEC's business operations in the local market and report to Toshiya Matsuki, regional CEO at NEC Asia Pacific based in Singapore.

Dasgupta will be responsible for fostering the growth of NEC India and integration of Computers and Communication (C&C) technologies to build an information friendly society. He will also work to empower societies through CSR initiatives. In addition to advancing NEC's commitment to the Indian market, he will also focus on building NEC as a global leader in the IT and telecom space, as well as to deliver cutting edge technology in the fields of Public Safety, Unified Communications, and Cloud Services.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tata Industries has joined hands with Ramot at Tel Aviv University Ltd, the university's tech transfer company, to fund and generate leading edge commercialisation ready technologies.

Tata Industries and Ramot at Tel Aviv University Ltd (Ramot), have entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which Tata Industries will become the lead investor in Ramot's Technology Innovation Momentum Fund, the company said in a statement.

"Under the MoU, Tata Industries through its wholly-owned overseas subsidiary will be the lead investor in Ramot's $20 million Technology Innovation Momentum Fund, which will invest in promising breakthrough technologies," it said.

The next CEO of China's Huawei Technologies will not be a family member of the incumbent chief, Ren Zhengfei, an ex-military officer who founded the company 26 years ago and built an empire that now rivals big global names in telecom gear and handsets.

Huawei, which ranks behind just Sweden's Ericsson in telecom equipment sales and is also the world's No. 5 smartphone maker, has no plans to list in the next 5-10 years, Ren said an internal letter to employees dated Sunday and whose contents were confirmed by two sources within the company on Monday.

With mixed results from the IT services pack, the $100 billion industry continues to face an uncertain outlook. Could this be contributing to stress among IT workers?

Overall there are fewer new job openings in the IT services space and employees need to re-skill to be relevant even as the industry looks at non-linear growth models. In an e-mail interaction, Srinivas Kandula, global head of HR, iGate, an IT services major tells ET that the industry is moving from being services-based to a more solutions-driven one, pushing the need for newer kinds of skill sets. Excerpts from the interview:

What do you believe is contributing to stress among IT services employees?The global nature of the industry has largely contributed to the stress levels of IT services employees. North America and certain other western countries being the biggest consumers of Indian IT services, the time zone difference contributes to the stress levels. Lack of good public infrastructure in several Indian cities leading to discomfort in commuting, as well, adds to the stress levels.

India's IT exporters have demonstrated resilience by surviving the difficult market conditions of recent times, a senior industry official has said.

Kamal Vachani, Hon. Regional Director of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) for the Middle East, said India's export of computer software and services during 2012-13 is estimated to have registered a growth of 10.26 per cent over 2011-12.

Rediff.com India Limited, India's leading online provider of news, information, communication, entertainment and shopping services has released the latest version of its Rediff.com website, featuring a new and enhanced homepage sporting a tiled interface.

The Rediff homepage in its new avatar brings alive an assortment of content and services using the contemporary grid layout that is visually rich.

Each unit of the grid features the latest information photographs and videos, giving it a more interactive and image-friendly appearance.

Google, which ran into trouble with Indian authorities earlier this month over a contest to update its maps service, is a repeat offender, according to a senior government official. Additional surveyor-general of India RC Padhiwas the first to raise the issue of the internet giant's legal compliance and filed a police case which may be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. He told ET in an interview that it does not seem to be a case of ignorance but one of wilful violation of local laws. Edited excerpts:

What prompted you to approach the police over Google's Mapathon contest?Our main concern is policy. As per the National Map Policy, geospatial data cannot be placed in the public domain, as that would jeopardise the country's security. All geospatial data have some security elements like defence installations, civil installations , etc. Such information cannot be put in the public domain. There is a process.

Indian chief information officers (CIOs) are more likely to focus on improving bottom line and bringing value to the businesses in FY2013-14, according to a study by Ernst and Young (E&Y) and the CIO Klub.

"The findings of the survey over the last five years highlight how CIO priorities have changed... While CIOs generally help businesses improve the topline, the current economic volatility is pushing them to look within and help businesses increase their bottom line," the study said.

IT services firm Mahindra Satyam has appointed Niraj Vedwa as the global head - banking, payments and cards.

Niraj, has over 26 years of experience in the IT industry, and close to 16 years in BFSI (Banking,Financial Services & Insurance) area. At Mahindra Satyam, he will be responsible to grow and support the existing businesses and also to strategise and incubate new service offerings in the above market segments, according to a release.

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